On October 2, 3018 Strider led his hobbit companions into the marshes on their third day out from Bree. After spending two days and nights in the marshes it was evident why there were no inhabitants. The land was boggy and dangerous with no permanent path. Pools, reeds, and rushes filled the area which was home to birds, flies, tiny biting midges, and loud cricket-like insects which Samwise Gamgee referred to as Neekerbreekers.

Etymology

The Midgewater Marshes are named after the small insects called midges which lived in there.